VENICE — A Venice-area man is accused of strangling his roommate, stopping only as he was about to get hit with a crucifix.
Richard Clinton Deitrick Jr., 65, 500 block of Briarwood Road, is charged with battery by strangulation. He’s free on $10,000 bond, with arraignment on Feb. 6.
According to a Sarasota County Sheriff’s Office probable cause affidavit, a deputy responded on Jan. 5 to a report of a battery. En route, he was informed the suspect had left the scene…